Day 67 in Itagui

Yesterday was one of my last days in Poblado, and I enjoyed every bit of it. Even though I must admit that there can occasionally be frustrations and misunderstanding between the locals and the foreigners. Despite the tensions, I feel more than welcome here. We stayed around the mall until about 530pm. Once we finished service we all treated ourselves to Cinnabon, which I must say, is 10 times better than the Cinnabons back home. We sat and talked and joked around. Then we took turns sharing our first immpressions we had about each other, which is alot harder than it sounds. I finally made my way back to Itagui, exhausted but satisfied. (Photos added to Photogallery Poblado)

I kind of put my foot in my mouth 2 months ago when I promised my cousin Mateo a DSi. It´s become more of a hassle than I originally thought it would be to find one at a decent price. The cheapest I could find for a new model was $250,000 pesos, which is about $125, which is way more than I wanted to spend, especialy considering the fact that I´m planning on a Wii U when I get back. Eventually I was able to find a used one for $170,000, about $90 dollars. It was as good as new, and I was convinced it was the cheapest price I was going to find, so I bought it. After coming home and seeing his gratitude, I was convinced it was worth it.

About 10 minutes after I got home, while I was on the third floor showing my cousin how to use the DS, we heard 4 loud booms. Now, I can never tell the difference between polvora, a type of firework that goes off every couple minutes once it gets dark, and gunshots. My grandpa says that you can tell the difference by a distinct echo that a gunshot will have, that polvora doesn´t. Aparently.. I missed the echo. I went out to the balcony, just as the traffic began to pile up. My aunt Esneda said that it must have been a gunshot, so I went down to the street to see for myself what was going on. My dad would tell me stories of how when he was a kid, growing up in Rosario, him and his freinds would go look around the neighborhood for bodies. More than 30 years later, it seems like I´ve developed that same hereditary interest in the no longer living. So when I saw a small circle of about 10 spectators standing in the middle of the road about 50 feet from my house, I joined right in. Right at my feet was a man in his early 40´s, dark hair, about my build, with 3 holes through his head and a black grocery bag at his feet. One shot in his cheek, and 2 in the back of his head, he probably didnt feel a thing. There was much less blood than I expected. I stuck around for about 5 minutes, than my aunt Sor came and yanked me out of there. After seeing something like that, you begin to realise how delicate human life really is. One minute, your there, the next minute, your not. The fact that we survive each day is amazing. Life is so short, which is why we should take full advantage of every minute of it.

                                                                                    -D.V.